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Gonzalo Quesada’s injury concerns are mounting. Just days after Bautista Delguy was forced to fly home from South Africa injured, a second player will be doing the same. Los Jaguares have lost Tomás Cubelli for the two upcoming road matches against the Bulls and Sharks.
The roster for the three match tour to South Africa featured Cubelli and Gonzalo Bertranou as the specialist scrum-halves. Left out was Felipe Ezcurra, a player who did not have a strong performance against the Reds. He was not fully-fit for the tour and is presently recovering.
Despite Ezcurra being at homer and Cubelli joining him, Quesada has not called-up a replacement. This sees Bertranou as the lone No9 on the roster. However, it is not so simple as Sebastián Cancelliere has prior experience in the position and, it is arguably, his best shot at further test caps.
Cancelliere was a stand-out performer for the Argentina XV in the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship (ARC). He would subsequently join Los Jaguares for the 2018 season, albeit as a winger. He joined Emiliano Boffelli and Ramiro Moyano as well as fellow rookie, Bautista Delguy. At the time Santiago Cordero has departed for England, Nicola´s Freitas to Uruguay and Manuel Montero to club rugby.
In 2020 the winger stocks are greater than in 2018. This is evident despite Santiago Carreras playing fullback and Matías Moroni also back to outside center. Emiliano Boffelli has reverted to wing this year with he and Delguy starting. Juan Cruz Mallía is covering fullback and Mateo Carreras would reportedly have joined the team in South Africa had he not been injured playing for Los Ceibos on Friday.
Thus, with two of the three scrum-halves unavailable there is a unique opportunity for Cancelliere. He could either be the replacement scrum-half or start the match on the wing and move to scrum-half if required. Regardless, he is certain to receive plenty of game time against the Bulls and Sharks.
